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The British Military refers to these incidents as blue on blue, which derives from Wargaming exercises where friendly forces are "blue" and enemy forces are "red". The term Fratricide may also be used, which technically refers to deliberate attacks upon one's own forces, but which is used as a Synonym for accidental friendly fire in military bureaucratic writing and by the press, which echoes the language. Some prefer the term "fratricide" over "friendly fire", which is seen as an unfitting Euphemism exemplified by the aphorism "there's nothing friendly about getting shot by your own side".


CLASSIFICATION

Friendly fire incidents fall roughly into two categories.
The first classification is Fog of war which generically describes friendly fire incidents in unintentional circumstances.
The second classification is murder where friendly fire incidents are premeditated.

Fog of war incidents fall roughly into two classes:
  • the first is due to errors of position, where fire aimed at enemy forces accidentally ends up hitting one's own. Such incidents were relatively common during The First and Second World Wars , where troops fought in close proximity and targeting was relatively inaccurate. As weapons have become more accurate in recent times, this class of incidents has become less common.


  • the second class is due to errors of identification, where friendly troops are mistakenly attacked in the belief that they are enemy. Highly mobile battles, and battles involving troops from many nations are more likely to cause this kind of incident.



FRIENDLY FIRE IN THE U.S. MILITARY


The Pentagon estimates of U.S. friendly fire deaths, with percentage of total US deaths:


HISTORY

Two French regiments accidentally attacking each other during the Battle Of Fleurus led to the habit of attaching a white scarf to the flags of the regiments from 1690 - white being the colour of the kings of France.


SEE ALSO



INCIDENTS AND PERSONS



CULTURAL VIEWS

Many, especially those in Britain, hold the view that the US has a severe record of friendly fire. The popular opinion is that the US is more likely to injure its own or its unfortunate allies, the British, than anyone of an opposing army. However, a much more accurate view is that the United States, as a world superpower, is simply more likely to have "friendly fire" events because the US is much more likely to be involved in combat operations. Whether it was WWII, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, Operation Desert Shield/Storm, the War in Kosovo and the Global War on Terror (GWOT), the US has provided the overwhelming majority of combat forces. By sheer numbers, the odds are that the US will have more casualties, regardless of whether they are from enemy or friendly fire.

Furthermore, since the Allied forces usually completely annihilate their opposition, little is known about "friendly fire" incidents for non-allied opposition forces. The Allied forces, especially the British and Americans, are able to attain good situational awareness on the modern battlefield and when an unfortunate "friendly fire" incident occurs, the events are much more likely to be investigated, analyzed and ejudicated to learn exactly what happened, and if possible, why.


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